Over the course of his career, Memphis-based Greely Myatt has created sculptures and installations that master a delicate balance of the familiar and the unexpected, using everyday materials to create sophisticated works of art that are tinged with humor and irony. While his work does reveal influences of mid-twentieth-century Pop art, those precedents are translated through Myatt’s distinctively Southern dialect, making them completely accessible to regional audiences and likely somewhat exotic to the art audiences who have experienced his work in exhibitions across the United States and around the world. In addition to his own artistic practice, Myatt has mentored countless art students through his role as Professor of Art at University of Memphis.

Piece of Cake: Confectious Sculptures by Greely Myatt represents a very personal body of the artist’s work. For the past fifteen years, he has been creating sculptures of various confections—birthday cakes, cupcakes, ice cream cones, and other sweets—as gifts for friends celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, retirements, and other milestones and holidays. These works are created using everyday materials to mouth-watering trompe l’oeil effect. For this exhibition, Myatt is creating a special work in honor of the one hundredth birthday of Wayne Thiebaud—an artist who has famously explored confections in his own career. Playfully seductive, Myatt’s sugary sculptures (many of which are being loaned by friends) exemplify the ingenuity and generosity of spirit that have helped him become one of the foremost artists working in the American South today.